


Ancient Shark Bones

by Magical_Alpha



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Casual, Gen, Hanging Out, I Just Want More Angus Content, Mae is an Absolute Goober Sometimes, Museums, So I'm Making More Angus Content, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Alpha/pseuds/Magical_Alpha
Summary: Mae finds out that Angus has plenty of free time after work and decides to hang out with him. Their destination is an old museum in the neighboring town Fort Lucenne that recently underwent some renovations.--A casual mini-fic I thought up, a good contrast from my ongoing fic Stranger Winter. We all need some friendly stuff every once and a while.
Kudos: 11





	Ancient Shark Bones

Possum Springs. A quaint town with old brick buildings running up the side of its Centre Avenue. It was only a couple days before Halloween, where the town's Harfest event would take place. Certain buildings had Halloween decorations put up on their brick and plaster exteriors. There were residents walking up along the sidewalk of the main street, going either to a store for something, or to their job, or going home from doing one of those. Either way, everyone had something that they were doing; Including Mae Borowski. Mae has spent plenty of her time for the day running and jumping around the town, from her home street of Maple Street, to the closed-down Food Donkey parking lot, visiting a multitude of places in the meantime. She also spent some time up to the hilltop church to talk with her mother, and went down at the train tracks with the mouse teen Lori Meyers, as well as said a quick hello to her bird friend Germ Warfare. Afterwards, she stepped into the Snack Falcon, where her orangish-yellow fox friend Gregg stood behind the counter.

"What's up, duder?" Gregg happily greeted Mae as she approached.  
"Nothin' much. Say, do you and Angus have any, uh... plans? After work?" the feline inquired.  
"Other than just sitting in front of the TV watching old crappy romance movies, nah. Why?" the fox responded.  
"Well, I was kinda thinking of hanging out with him. Y'know, me and you went out to the Food Donkey and stole that robot head thing, and then I got stuck in a basement with Bea the day after. I haven't really done anything with Angus since I got back, y'know?" Mae explained. Gregg smiled in understanding.  
"Yeah, I know what you mean. What, you're like, asking me for approval? Go on, dude!" Gregg ushered in a cheery manner. With that, Mae made her way back out onto the main street, heading up towards the Video Outpost "Too".

The door of the video store opened with a distinct ringing sound as Angus the bear casually waved at the feline walking in. Mae walked up to the counter. "Hey Mae," the big bear greeted.  
"Heyy. What time do you get off?" Mae asked curiously.  
"Uh..." Angus shot a quick glance down to his watch, responding with a matter-of-factly "Twenty-four minutes from now."  
"You wanna hang out after you're done?" the cat asked quickly, catching Angus off guard slightly. "I've been back home for like, five days or something, and we haven't done anything together."  
"I, uh... Yeah, why not?" the grizzly bear shrugged, but he did get a light smile from the idea.  
"Woo. So," Mae started, "Any idea where you'd wanna go? Could just like, hop on over to your apartment and play games, or do some putt-putt in Hunwick."  
"Hmm... What about the Fort Lucenne Museum? It'd be a hike to get there, but entry is kinda cheap and I think it'd be worth it. You ever been?" the bear proposed.  
"Ohh yeaahh. I think the last time I went there was like, in a fifth grade field trip."  
"Quite a while, huh?"  
"Yep. Alright, big guy, I'll let you finish up. Meet me outside," Mae instructed, walking out of the store then and there.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Mae would catch Angus leaving the small video store, practically hopping in excitement. "There you are. You ready to go?" the cat asked.  
"I s'pose. You seem pretty excited, I didn't peg you as a museum enjoyer," Angus joked in response.  
"It's not that I'm really excited about the museum, it's just that I'm getting to hang out with you," Mae replied in earnest. "Plus, that place does have a few cool things that I recall."  
"Heh heh. Okay well, we're burning daylight just standing here, let's get goin'," the bear suggested, leading the way. If only they had a car... Bea was the only one in the friend group with a car, and it was quite unlikely she'd give it away for something this small. Oh well, the exercise was good for them.

After what felt like an hour, the pair got to their destination, gaining entry into the rather large museum. The lobby area contained a large T-rex fossil display, but the places the two of them went were... less interesting, to say the least. Mostly old art galleries and small 'geological' displays with rocks and really old leaves and bugs.  
"I don't exactly remember the museum being this... boring," Mae admitted to her bear partner as they walked through a local art exhibit. The exhibit showed art pieces depicting natives meeting colonists, although everyone was a wild range of animal folk, just like the people walking around viewing them.  
"Well, we are only on the first floor. Plus, you were a kid last time you came here, probably had other things on your mind," Angus spoke.  
"I suppose... Oh wow, look!" the cat pointed at one of the colonial paintings, catching Angus' attention. "This dude looks just like you!" Sure as the world, one of the colonists in the background was a brown grizzly bear man, with rounded glasses, a black hat and a dark green coat.  
"Oh wow haha. Maybe it's my great-grandfather or something."  
"A member of your family, immortalized in a painting," Mae returned the joke. "Actually, a really old family member of mine has his name on the war memorial back in town. Anselm Borowski."  
"Huh. Neat. Wonder if we'll see him in a painting."

After a bit more wandering about old art exhibits and such, one being a closed display of really old weapons and firearms that Mae took some interest in, the pair would make their way up a staircase. The second level of the museum took the small feline's interest much better than the first, with displays of mammal and fish fossils adorning the exhibits. "Now this is what I'm talking about," Mae said with a smile. "I dunno what it is about just... Bones being on display that is so cool."  
"It's like taking a look into the history of the world, way before any of us were here. It's not like dinosaurs or mammoths could paint, so... We just dig them up and display them instead," Angus did his best to explain.  
"Yeah. Skeletons are just cool in general, too."  
"Yep."  
It was just then that a thought crossed Mae's mind as the pair approached the fossil of a large sea creature that was being suspended in the air with thin rope. "Ya know, I just realized... There are people out there who get specifically paid to look for and dig up fossils," she brought up.  
"Yeah?"  
"Like, imagine you're a big ancient sea creature, and a million years after you die, some rando digs you up and just puts you on display for everyone to see."  
"That's... An interesting thought," the bear responded.  
"I have those sometimes." As the two stood under the large fossil, Mae shot a glance up to the top of its head. "... I wanna climb onto the ancient sea creature."  
"Please don't." Angus told her in a straightforward tone.  
"It'd be so cool!"  
" _No._ " That got Mae to quiet down, at least. "Sorry. I don't wanna like, kid you or anything but you'll probably get yourself, or the fossil, hurt. We can't afford a hospital bill or a fee for damaging an exhibit," he explained matter-of-factly. "Anyways, I gotta use the restroom. You go on, we'll find each other when I'm done."  
"Yeah alright," Mae excused, her mind already hatching a plan as Angus walked away, leaving the feline alone with this very enticing shark skeleton.

Mae watched closely as Angus rounded a corner and entered the restroom. She waited for a second, just in case... Aaand, go! Without another moment's hesitation, Mae built momentum to jump up to the belly area of the large boney structure. Passersby immediately took notice of the feline's stunt, walking over to the display as she grabbed hold of one of its ribs, climbing up to the spine. Thankfully she was relatively light. Now she was on top of the creature, and the view was amazing! More people came over to check it all out, as it wasn't every day you see someone climbing onto a shark skeleton in a museum. Some were asking her what she was doing, but others were... cheering her on? Some of them were even recording the whole thing on their phones. Mae supposed she should have expected all this, but it still surprised her nonetheless. In what can only be described as her best attempt at a power move, she threw her hands up into the air and declared, "These are my ancient shark bones! I am the queen of all that is ancient, sharky and boney!!" This garnered laughs and cheers from her new crowd.  
"Mae!?!" Suddenly, the feline heard the low-toned voice of Angus call out to her from below. She looked down to see a rather panicked-looking bear. Mae took a leap off the top of the skeleton and landed between the crowd she amassed and Angus.  
"Yo," was the cat's only response.

After some explanation and apologies to the museum security, the pair found themselves outside of the building, with the sun setting off in the distance. "Sorry, Angus. I uh... Really just couldn't resist," Mae apologized as they sat on a bench near the museum.  
"It's fine. Least you didn't get yourself hurt," Angus pardoned. "Pretty sure we're no longer allowed in that museum again, though."  
"Dang. Hey wait, we?? What did you do? I'm the one who climbed the fragile fossil display!" Mae questioned.  
"I guess I was just kinda like... involved with you?"  
"What a load of shit."  
"Y'know, I have to ask... Where do you get all that energy from? You are like... For lack of a better word, chaotic at times," Angus wondered.  
Mae gave a shrug in response. "I dunno, honestly. It's all just kinda there, and I need to release it. I can't just... Not release it, y'know?"  
"I think I get it. I just wish I could lead an active lifestyle. It looks fun, but uh... I have my asthma, and that much moving wouldn't be a great idea. Not to mention that I'm... Y'know, big," the bear replied before standing up. "Alright. We got another hike ahead of us. Let's try to get home before it gets too late."  
Mae nodded, also standing up as the pair started their way back to Possum Springs. "I had fun today, at least."  
"Yeah. Same here... Maybe for different reasons," the bear replied with a light chuckle.  
"We should hang out more often if we get the chance."  
"Oh, definitely."

After a long walk back to town, the pair parted ways to get home. Angus got to his apartment and greeted his fox boyfriend, and Mae entered her house, talking with her father on the couch before watching some Garbo & Malloy. All in all, it was a rather pleasant day for both of them.


End file.
